Can opening and spout forming device



Dec. 25, 1934. J. H. RENSHAW CAN OPENING AND SPOUT FORMING DEVICE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 25, 1934 MlQaL'JRBJZ-SMIQ Dec. 25, 1934. J RENSHAW CAN OPENING AND SPOUT FORMING DEVICE Filed April 25, 1934 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 J-gepk Remizau;

Patented Dec. 25, 1934 t I UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE can orsnmo AND srou'r roams navrcr:

Joseph Howard Renshaw, Cincinnati, Ohio, as-

siznor to Continental Can Company, Inc., New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application April 2:, 1934; Serial No. 122,042

2 Claims. (01. 221-23) The invention relates to new and useful imfrom each other. These side members are inprovements in a device for opening a can and tegrally connected with a spacing block 5 at one forming a spout in the side wall thereof. end thereof, and are integrally connected to a An object of the invention is to provide a can cross bar 6 at the other end thereof.

5 opening and spout forming device wherein the Attached to this cross bar 6 is a combined 5 inner shoulder of the double seam joining the piercer and spout forming device 7. This device can end to the can body at the point opposite consists of a vertical member through which where the spout isto be formed may be used as screws 8, 8 pass for securing the same to the an. abutment for supporting the operating tool cross bar 6. There is also a horizontal member during the forming of the spout. 9 which extends beneath the cross bar 6. This 10 A further object of the invention is to provide a makes a very strong and durable nn i n f can opening tool having an abutment device and the. device '7 to the cross bar 6, which will not a spout forming device which may be separated be displaced when either a vertical pressure is from each other for the forming of the spout by applied to the cross bar or a lateral pressure ap- 5 vertical pressure applied to the tool. plied thereto du g the forming of the spout- In the drawings Integral with the horizontal member 9 is a cut- Figure 1 is a side view showing the can piercing l hav g a p n Point Seid cutter is and spout forming device as applied to the can for also P vi d with a cu ved shoulder 11. This piercing the end preparatory to the forming of curved shoulder inclines slightly to'the longituthe spout; dinal length of the cross bar so that when the 20 Figure 1a is a view showing on an enlarged p s a in the p siti n wn n Fi th scale and in bottom plan view the spout forming curved l'ace 11 is substantially vertical. The cutdevice; ting edge extends from a penetrating point at Figure 1b i a i e i of th some l kin the center of the curved wall and inclines uptoward the spout forming shoulder; Wardly therefrom so that when the cutter is ap- 5 Figure 1c is a bottom plan view showing the plied to the can end, it will Pierce the can at shape of one form of the abutment, the double seam and along lines leading there- Figure 2 is a plan view of the same; rom. Figure 3 is a side view showing the tool as hav- In e d a e e is hown more 01 less ing been operated for the forming of the spout; diagrammatically a can of e tim abo de- 30 Figure 4 is a plan view of the can with the spout i d which consists of a dy Portion 12 t0 formed by the improved piercing and spout formch an d 3 is Secured y a d ub ee 1 ing device, and When the tool is applied to the can, the cutter Figure 5 is a side view of the same with parts will penetrate the can at the point ll an W l broken away in section, tear the can along the line ab in one direction 35 It is a common expedient to package liquid and H in the other c onproducts in hermetically sealed metal cans cone abutme t ver 1 is in the form of a sisting of a body portion and ends do bl skeleton bar which lies between the two side thereto. The product marketed in such cans is members 3 and 4 0f e spoilt forming ev A not only protected from contact with the air, but D v bolt 15 extends through a hole in the eress 40 the contents of the can cannot be changed withbar and in the level for joining e two ev sout giving physical evidence of the can having This Divot bolt is provided t a d at One been tampered with. Lubricating oil is put up by side and a threaded n at e other, so that the original dispensers in sealed cans and sold at it may be readily removed for disconnecting the the filling stations where they are opened in the levers, when desired- There are a series of holes 45 presence of the customers and emptied into the in the side members 3 and 4 which are indicated chamber where his to be utilized for lubricating a 6 i the d w he e are a series of pur h insures t t t customer )btain holes in the skeleton bar of the abutment lever the original product. which are indicated at 1'7. The purpose of pro- The present invention has to do with a tool for di a s s of holes is to P t the tOOI 50 opening a container of the above type and formbe adjusted for use on cans of different size. ing a pouring spout in the side wall thereof. The The abutment lever 1 is provided with laterally tool includes an abutment lever l and a spoutprojecting portions 18 at one end thereof, formforming lever 2. The spout forming lever 2 coning a flat handle member adapted to be pressed sists of side members 3 and 4 which are spaced upon by the Operator in the piercing of the can 55 e -throw 1 cause the] '13:.forming an-aopening 23 therethrough. The

end-and the forming-oi the spout. At the other end of the iabutment lever is an abutment device 19. This abutment device has a vertical memberand-a horizontal member which underliesithe end-of the bar forming the abutment lever. vThe .vertical portion of this device extends up along-:the-end wallof the abutment lever and is secured-thereto by suitable rivets. This abutmentdevice is provided with a curved depending lug '21;"Said lug-' at.the outer face thereof is curved "to conform to the general curvature of the inner shoulder of the double seam of the can. This curved outer-face of the abutment lug is inclined'so-that when the parts are in the positionshown in-;Fig 1, its outer face is substantially rvertical. Thereis also a piercer 22 attached'to this device 19' which projects below the abutment lug 21. In the operation of the tool, the abutment lug is preferably first placed against the shoulder of the'double seam. The levers are then moved to a position where they are at an acute angle to each other, and the cutter l0 placed :against the idoublelseam or close to the double seam at a point'diametrically opposite the point of engagementpfthe double seam by the abutmentglu'gl r 'l'he operator then applies pressure offboth levers, and this will 'iercin'g oint 22 to pierce the can end downwar "pr sur'e on the levers will cause the cutter10'to cutflthe'meta1 in the can end and it I .willalso .cau'sethe levers to straighten out from p'ositionjshown in Figure 1 to the positiohshown Figure 3. As the cutter passes throughfthegnietal-in-the can end, it will be gradually -inoved'away fromthe lugor abutment 21 and, away'froni the double seam' 14. As a result, the can end'will'be'cut along the line c-wb and .the'double' seamjand body wall adjacent the cut forr'nedfin- Ftheflgend will be forced laterally and outwardlyand as the levers are forced to the straight line position they will cause the metal" to rup'turealong the lines dd, thus releasinglthedouble seam andbody wall from the end and permitting-the same to be shaped into a'jspout as shown gin Figure 4, wherein there is a pouringglipflf ia and side walls leading to the pouring-lip .an'd'merging in the body wall and double; searnbf the-can body at their other ends. During this shaping of the spout, the can end will buckle upwardly as indicated at 13a and thiswil'l contract the double seam, moving it inwardly'from the broken line position of Figure 4 to the full line position. In other words, the area of the topfof the can end is decreased in order to give suflicientni'etal to form this pouring spout.

The body wall directly beneath the double seam willj.-be shaped in' cross-section similar thereto and;will-'gradually merge into the cylindrical .body at a'short'distance below the double seam.

as clearlyindicated inthe drawings. The forming tool is, then removed and this leaves the can body witha well-formed pouring spout and a vent 'member'adaptedjtoacontact with the double seam,

while thegothericarries a spout forming device.

Yertical'pressure. applied to these levers will first causex thefcanend-to 'be pierced to form a vent openingan'd cut to release the can end from its connection-tethe double seam throughout a .l'iinitedregionand at a point diametrically PPQ= site the vent opening. Further pressure upon these levers from the toggle action thereof will cause the double seem and the can well immediately connected thereto in the region of this cut opening to be bent outwardly into the form of a spout. The structure is very simple and is very efiicient in its operation. The vertical pressure, in the first place, is used for'moving the piercing and cutting members in avertical direction, and the vertical pressure is then converted into a horizontal force applied to the double seam at diametrically oppositepoints for shaping the same into a spout. h

In the specific form, as noted above, there is a piercer 22 at one end of the expanding device and this is adjacent the relatively long lug 21. At the other end there is a cutter which cuts a large hole and the cutter'is the sole means for contacting and expanding the can. j It is understood, of course, that these parts may be differently constructed and ofdifferent dimensions. When the contact points oflthecan which are to cause expansion are similarly shaped, expansion will take place in both directions and at both sides of the can. That is, the. expansion is away from the center of the caniat each side thereof. .As in the present construction where the contact point with the double} seam is relatively long and conforms to the inside circumference of the double seam, the expansion will take place only at the end havingthe cutter l1 and when this expansion is great'enough then the can end will part from the double seam at the point of expansion each jsideof the cutter. This aids in the releasing of thedouble seam and the can body wall for the shaping of it into a spout. If it were desired to increase the air inlet or vent hole, the abutmentsj and cutters could be proportioned so that there would be some expansion at both ends of the'expanding tool.

It is understood that variouschanges in the details of construction and'the shaping of the parts may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. A can opening and .spout forming device comprising a member adapted to contact with the inner wall 'of the container end at the double seam. a second member adapted to contact with the wall of the container at the double seam and opposed to the first contact, said second-named member having means for rupturing the container end adjacent the wall of the can body, and means for forcibly actuating said members for forming a laterally projecting pouring spout in the double seam and body wall adjacent the point of rupture.

2. A can opening and spout forming device comprising an abutment lever having an abut- -ment member adapted to contact with the inner 

